A song for Meredith
by Kuchiki-san urahara
Summary: A subtle hint from Christina encourages Derek to reinvent the night that he would have proposed to Meredith.


I do not own Grey's Anatomy, its characters or likenesses

Neither do I own Peter Gabriel's lyrics.

I just like them both. Please read and review.

**A song for Meredith**

Derek was scrubbing out, having just successfully performed a craniotomy on a patient. Christina had been part of the surgical team.

"So you sing too, huh?" she said with a chuckle.

Derek was totally blank, and looking at her, Christina realized he didn't know what she was talking about. She knew he wouldn't, and she felt like keeping it that way for a bit, to torture him.

"So are you gonna tell me what you mean? You speak in a code that only Meredith can understand. So now I need you to speak simple English…Please?" he added with a smile, when he saw the ludicrous look on Christina's face.

"You've got the hair, etc, and now your resume reads singer. I heard you sang for Addison," she said, with a sneer that was fighting to prevent itself from turning into a smile.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I sang. But that was a lifetime ago."

"Will you sing for Mere? I'm sure she'd like that. Don't bother telling her I suggested this coz I will just deny it. That simple enough for you, _Dr_. Shepherd?" she asked sweetly while bowing mockingly. She left the scrub room before he could reply.

Derek smiled, appreciating the subtle and not-so-subtle hints that Meredith's person gave him from time to time. "No matter how bad ass she thinks she is, she cares," he said to himself as he exited the room.

Meredith got home, grateful that the day was finally over. It could have been worse; she might have had to be on duty that night. Hopefully nothing too serious would happen at the hospital to require her input, she thought as she walked up the stairs. The house was quiet. She figured no one was home, yay! She got to the top landing and walked towards her room on auto pilot. Her eyes were shut as she opened the bedroom door. She walked in and stopped suddenly. The sweet smell from scented candles prompted her to slowly open her eyes. She smiled as she took in the spectacle before her. The room was decorated with red roses, and her bed was covered in petals. She would have recognized the scene before her had she come home early the day that Archer was brought in from LA with worms in his brain. She smiled even more when she looked at Derek, who had seemed a bit nervous at first, then he relaxed when he saw the smile Meredith directed at her.

"It's a cliché, I know. _I'm _a cliché," he said as he watched her.

Meredith walked towards her post-it husband and gave him a loving kiss. "So what if it's a cliché? You're my cliché, and I love…" she waved her arm around to suggest the decorations, "…this cliché. It's beautiful."

Derek gave her a quick kiss on the lips, and another on the corner of her mouth. He then gently pushed Meredith backwards, so that she too began to walk backwards until she sat on the edge of the bed. Derek then bent over and picked up a guitar that had been leaning against the bed. His wife looked at him questioningly, raising an eyebrow. He just smiled at her, and began to strum. At first Meredith didn't know which song he was playing, because he had changed the tune a little bit. Then he began to sing,

_The book of love is long and boring_

_No one can lift the damn thing_

"Oh my gosh, Derek…" her voice trailed off as she raised her hands to cover mouth. She loved that song. She loved it because she used to think that she'd never know the kind of love she was experiencing with Derek. She thought it was unreal; and so she loved it because she felt such a love was unattainable. It was a fantasy. She needed fantasy, being that she was all dark and twisty. But as she fell more and more in love with Derek, her love for the song grew exponentially as well.

_It's full of charts and facts and figures_

_and instructions for dancing_

_But I_

_I love it when you read to me_

_And you_

_You can read me anything_

Indeed, she could read him anything. Derek didn't care what it was. He loved to listen to her voice as she read to him in bed. Falling asleep to that voice was wonderful. Sometimes she read him her mother's diary, sometimes it was an article from a medical journal. She would stroke his hair while he laid his head on the pillow or her thighs, and she would just read to him. Such times were some of his best.

_The book of love has music in it_

_In fact that's where music comes from_

_Some of it is just Transcendental_

_Some of it is just really dumb_

_But I_

_I love it when you sing to me_

_And you_

_You can sing me anything_

Meredith didn't really sing to him, but she did sing to herself. Sometimes she would hum a song while she did the dishes. And sometimes her humming was an unconscious thing she did. Derek loved it when she hummed her random tunes, and he had told her so. She would then stick her tongue out at him, and purposely stop humming. Derek would protest when she ceased humming, but that was just for show. He knew she would lose the battle, because soon enough she would forget that she was trying to stop it, and would carry on with her random tunes.

_The book of love is long and boring_

_And written very long ago_

_It's full of flowers and Heart-shaped boxes_

_And things we're all too young to know_

_But I_

_I love it when you give me things_

Derek remembered some of the gifts Meredith gave him. There was the blue tie, the designer cologne from his last birthday. But he loved the little things the most. The ones that showed him she cared. Like the ear plugs she gave him when he had first moved in with her. That was sweet, and though it didn't seem like much, he would never ever forget it.

Derek continued to sing,

_And…_

He stopped, and smiled at Meredith, for she had joined him in singing. He decided to keep quiet and nodded to encourage her. She sang,

_And you_

_You ought to give me wedding rings_

Derek sang,

_And I_

_I love it when you give me things_

Meredith sang as she looked at the ring on her finger that was a Shepherd family heirloom,

_And you_

_You ought to give me wedding rings_

Derek put down the guitar and sat down beside Meredith. He held her in his arms and said, "Let's get married. Like at City Hall or something. Let's get an official marriage certificate. That way it's official - in a politically correct manner."

Meredith looked up at him and kissed him on the chin. "Let's."


End file.
